


Chocolate Bars and Poisoned Arrows

by Blue_Pluto



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Birdflash - Freeform, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, Internalized Transphobia, LGBTQ Themes, Pan Dick Grayson, Temporary Character Death, Trans Character, Trans Dick Grayson, gay wally west, i promise this isn't as dark as it sounds i just have anxiaty and don't want anyone to get triggred, its really just a mission fic w/ angst and queer themes, oh i should prob tag that, this is part of a series so its setting stuff up for the other parts, trans Wally west
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 12:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17203040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Pluto/pseuds/Blue_Pluto
Summary: "“Woah! Walls, slow down I can't understand you.” Dick said, walking up to and sitting in a chair next to the bed. “I’m not mad at you.”“You’re not?" Wally asked, eyes wide.“No.” Dick exhaled and tilted his head back against the chair. “If anyone should be mad right now, its you.”Wally looked confused“Why?”Dick closed his eyes, his head still tilted back.“All this is because of me..."





	Chocolate Bars and Poisoned Arrows

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! Please read the tags and heed the warnings!! A bunch of them are for the second chapter but still...

“Ugghh.” Dick groaned as he flopped face down on his bed, narrowly missing the other teen lounging on it. 

Wally made a sympathetic noise in the back of his throat, before reaching over to rub his best friend's back.

“Do you want me to get you some ibuprofen or something?” 

Dick lifted his head to send a look at his friend.

“Can't you just say advil like a normal person? No one calls it that but you.” He dropped his head so his face was pushed into the covers again. “Like I know you’re a science nerd and stuff but you don't need to use the scientific name for everything like freaking Jimmy Neutron. Next thing I know you’ll be calling orange juice citric acid and asking me to pass the  sodium chloride at dinner .” Dick finished, his voice muffled. 

Wally made an offended noise. 

“Okay, for one orange juice is made of much more than just citric acid.” Dick could practically hear the eyroll in the redhead's voice. Wally hated any sort of scientific accuracy, no matter how small, it just always bugged him.  _ Its cute.  _ _ He’s _ _ cute.  _

Dick blushed, suddenly hyper aware of the hand on his back, and very thankful his face was angled away from Wally, only one cheek now pressed into the pillow.  _ Get it together Grayson. Wally’s straight, and your best friend. Quit being weird.  _

Wally continued on, unaware of his friend's mini existential crisis. “And two using the generic name of the drug is perfectly acceptable. I'm more used to calling it that anyway because my parents just buy the store brand.” 

“How are you even used to a specific name if you can’t use pain killers?” Dick shot back, easily falling into comfortable banter, and not-so-easily pushing away awkward thoughts. 

Wally rolled his eyes again, still rubbing Dick’s back.

“Do you want the drugs or not?”

There was a long pause before the boy responded. 

“... yeah” 

Wally snorted, rolling off the bed and speeding out of the room. Dick groaned and sat up, guiltily annoyed at the loss of the hand rubbing his back. 

Wally returned in less than a minute, with two pills, a water bottle, a heating pad, and a large bar of chocolate. 

“Holy shit I love you.” Dick said, grabbing the things from Wally’s hands.

Wally grinned and sat back down next to his friend, as Dick swallowed the pills and laid back down on his back. 

“Glad to see I’m appreciated.”

“Of course, Walls. You’re the only one who brings me chocolate when I’m on my period.” Dick said, opening the bar and popping a square in his mouth. 

“Doesn't Bruce sneak you some?” Wally asked, leaning over to steal a piece of chocolate and pick up the heating pad. Dick slapped his arm in retaliation as Wally leaned even farther over him to plug the heating pad into the wall.

Dick blushed again, but managed to morph his features into an exaggerated scowl before Wally sat back up, effectively hiding the real reason behind his flushed face. He stuck his tongue out as wally handed him the heating pad, causing the other boy to grin mischievously and steal another piece of chocolate. He kicked Wally’s leg, then shifted so his head was resting on the other boy’s chest. 

The two had always been touchy with each other, and Dick’s weird feelings weren't going to change that. Especially since doing so stressed Wally the hell out, making the redhead think Dick was mad at him for no fault of his own

“Nope,” Dick said with a pout, answering Wally’s earlier question, “Alfred is a firm believer that the whole ‘chocolate helps periods’ thing is a myth, and thinks that I just use it as an excuse to eat a metric ton of chocolate every month.” He took a bite out of the bar. “Which he isn't necessarily  _ wrong _ about, but still. Anyway, there's an unspoken rule that B isn't supposed to give me any, and Alfred  _ always _ finds out if he does, so B is too afraid to.”

“What can a sixty something year old guy do to scare Batman?” Dick tilted his head, grinning mischievously at the redhead. 

“Ever seen Bruce's disappointed look?” Dick asked with a raised eyebrow. Wally cringed, thinking of the  _ many _ times he’d seen it, and nodded. “His is essentially a watered down of Alfred’s.”

Wally gave a falsely exaggerated shudder at Dick’s description of Alfred’s disappointed look, sending both boys into a fit of giggles. 

“Y’know he’s not technically wrong about it being a myth.” Wally said, propping his head up on his hand, elbow set against the wall, once they had calmed down. “Only dark chocolate really helps, and you won’t touch that stuff with a ten foot pole. Should I be concerned about him coming after me the next time I’m at the manor?”

Dick narrowed his eyes at the redhead. 

“If it a milk chocolate doesn't help, then why did you bring me some?”

Wally flushed slightly at the question, but was saved from answering by Dick’s phone going off. The shorter boy made a noise in the back of his throat, and stretched his arm out in a futile attempt to grab the phone that was far out of his reach. 

Wally sighed, no real annoyance in his voice, getting up to grab Dick’s phone from where it lay across the room on the chair where Dick had thrown his jacket and sunglasses when they first walked in. He threw it at Dick’s head, fondly rolling his eyes when the bird easily caught it midair and opened it to check his text messages. 

“What is it?” Wally asked, lying back down next to Dick as the bird frowned at his phone. .

“Babs cancelled on me for this pride event thing next week. It was supposed to be the fiftieth anniversary of the Gotham lgbtq+ center or something. I mean she had a really good reason, one of her neighbors had a job interview and no one else to watch her kids, but still it sucks. Especially since we were going to wear matching pan shirts.” 

“That sucks, dude.” Wally said, a sympathetic grimace on his face. 

Dick frowned. He really had been excited to go. Barbara had been going to events there for a while, and had been planning to introduce him to some of her friends. There weren't many lgbtq kids at his school and he was hoping to get to know some other kids who could really  _ get _ it when he wanted to talk about queer issues or complain about his dysphoria.

_ Technically _ he could go by himself, but he didn’t really know anyone there yet, and despite being able to navigate social situations pretty well, he’d rather have at least one person he knew there.

He began running through a mental list of the other people he could ask, when he realized the perfect person was sitting right next to him. Wally may be straight and cis, but he was always really chill and supportive about Dick not being the same. 

“Do you want to go with me?” Dick asked casually, looking down at his phone as he typed out a message.

The speedster stiffend next to him. 

“Where?” Wally asked, voice strained. Dick looked up from his phone, staring sideways at Wally. 

“The pride thing… obviously? Bit slow today KF?” Wally turned his head to the other side, not looking Dick in the eye. 

“Why would I want to do that, I'm not gay.” 

Dick frowned. “You don’t have to be? And you don’t have to sound so offended.”

Wally let out a stilted laugh. 

“Sorry. I just thought you thought I was gay or something.” He looked back at Dick, grinning like it was a joke or funny misunderstanding, but the smile didn’t meet his eyes. 

Dick sat up, eyebrows knit and heating pad forgotten. “Dude thats not a bad thing? The fuck is your problem?” 

“Yeah, I know but like, why would you invite a straight guy?” Wally gave a forced laugh, sitting up himself. 

“I literally just told you. Why are you being such an asshole?”

“I'm not, I just don’t like being called gay.” Wally said, a tinge of panic edging in his voice that Dick only recognized because he’d know Wally so long. 

Dick took a deep breath 

“First of all, I didn’t call you gay. Second, being gay  _ still _ isn't a bad thing. Third, yeah, you are being an ass.”

“I know it's not bad!” Wally flung his hands in the air, startling Dick. The brunette stared at him, eyes wide and confused. 

Wally pulled his hands down, wrapping them around his stomach. “You just don’t get it.” He said quietly, his voice as fragile as glass. 

Dick turned away, trying to blink away the burning eyes. He wasn't sure if it came from anger or hurt. Probably both. 

“Look if you have some kind of problem with it- deal with it on your own. Don’t take it out on me.” Dick said, his voice quiet yet angry. 

Wally seemed frustrated, pushing his palms into his own eyes and breathing deeply. “I'm not-” 

“ _ Superboy requesting entrance to room _ .” a mechanical voice rang out, cutting Wally off. 

Dick exhaled shakily, walking across the room to get his sunglasses. He moved to the door controls on the wall, turning off the sound dampeners and unlocking the door, his back to Wally the whole time. 

“Its open.” He called to Conner outside, knowing the clone could easily hear them now that the sound dampeners were turned off. He was grateful for Bruce’s paranoia, no matter how much it usually annoyed him, because without the sound dampeners the clone would have definitely heard his and Wally’s fight. 

The door slid open, allowing Conner to walk in, oblivious to the tension in the air.

“Batman has a mission for us.”

“See you in five.” Wally said, speeding out of the room. 

Connor blinked, surprised at Wally’s quick exit. “What’s up with him?” It was usually difficult to get him to switch tasks and it would take multiple reminders to get him to go get ready for things. 

“Wish I knew.” Dick said, scowling. 

-=+=-

By the time they reached the bioship the whole team could sense the tension between the two of them. Not even Artemis complained when Robin took her seat, the farthest from his usual next to Wally, still unnerved from when she’d tried to tease the speedster and instead of bantering back he just stared her down before walking away. 

The whole ride was spent mostly in silence. M’gann had shut off the mindlink after the first ten minutes, promising to put it back when the mission started. She said she was just tired, but it was easy to tell the anger radiating off them was making her nervous. 

As they started nearing their destination, Aqualad stood up.

“We will be arriving at the compound in approximately ten minutes. The lab we are heading to was made to test and manufacture new weapons. Our mission is to extract any data we can find in the lab’s computer files and then destroy the building. Artemis and Miss Martian will go through and remove any guards from the building so they are not caught in the explosion.” He turned to face the girls. “Our intel says there should only be basic security, but this lab is owned by Lexcorp, so be on guard.” Both girls nodded at him.

“Robin and Kid Flash will go to the office of the director and remove any data they can from his computer.” The two glanced at each other from across the room, but Aqualad continued with little more than a raised eyebrow. “Superboy and I will go around the outside of the building and plant explosives. Once we’re done we will be on standby if either of the other teams need backup. Any questions?”

Robin and Kid Flash looked at eachother, both silently daring the other to speak up.

After a few more minutes the team landed, and everyone split off to complete their portions of the mission. 

Dick was typing on his wrist computer, trying to pull up a map of the compound. Wally was essentially giving him the cold shoulder, standing with his arms crossed and basically radiating hostility.  _ He keeps acting as if  _ _ I’m _ _ being the asshole here. _

“Come on.” Dick said. He received nothing more than a blank look from the redhead. 

The two of them made their way through the compound, following the map Robin had pulled up when they first got there. They snuck around corners and took out a few guards, sending mental images of their location to M’gann, who would have a harder time beong able to detect them if they were unconscious. 

They reached the door quickly, probably _too_ quickly, but Dick was ready to be done with the mission, so he didn’t question it. 

He plugged his wrist computer into the keypad as Wally stood guard. 

_ *We’ve reached the door.* _ Dick said over the mindlink.

_ *Me and Artemis have cleared the western part of the compound, and are on our way towards you to clear the eastern half.* _

_ *Copy. See you soon.* _

Less than ten seconds later, the door was unlocked. 

It opened to show a neat office. Dick walked in, slid into the desk chair and inserted a flash drive into the computer. Wally leaned over from the other side of the desk, looking at the computer upside down as Dick worked. The younger teen’s face twitched, but he didn’t say anything. 

“Did you lock the door?” The speedster asked.

_ First thing he says to me all mission and he’s scolding me for not locking a freaking door? _

“Yes.” Dick responded, the word clipped and voice monotone. 

Dick continued going through the computer, sifting through what was on it while it automatically downloaded everything onto his flash drive. The two of them sat in almost silence, broken only by the sound of the computer keys. 

After a few more minutes, Dick heard a quiet  _ woosh _ . He looked up, just in time to see a  _ League of Shadows _ assassin standing in the now  _ open _ doorway, let an arrow fly  _ straight at his head _ . 

He had enough time to think  _ Shit _ , before Wally tackled him over the table. Dick had barely blinked twice before Wally had sped around the desk, kicked the assassin in the chest, smashed the outside keypad, and slammed the door shut. 

“I thought you locked the door!” The redhead accused Dick, flashing back behind the desk and crouched next to him. 

“I  _ did!  _ I even configed it so it wouldn't accept key cards anymore, so  _ obviously _ he hacked it somehow!” Dick took a breath. “Lets just take him down and finish the mission.”

“Fine.” Kid Flash said. He went to push himself up, only to grimace when his arm gave out. Robin’s eyebrows scrunched together at the sight, noticing for the first time the blood on the other boy’s arm. 

“When did you get hurt?” He asked, rummaging around in his belt for some gauze. 

“The arrow grazed me when I pushed you out of the way.” He said, waving away the gauze Dick offered him. “It doesn't matter. It’ll heal soon on its own anyway.” Dick looked at him through narrow eyes for a moment, huffed, then put it away. 

“Whatever.” He looked over the desk at the door, waiting for the assassin to burst through. “Why do you think a League of Shadows assassin is here of all places?”

“No clue.”

“Do you think you can take him out while I get the flashdrive? It should be done downloading and deleting everything by now.”

“Yeah.” Wally said, speeding up to the door. 

Dick stood to go work on the computer again, but heard Wally yell “ _ Fuck! _ ” and slam the door before he even got into the chair. 

“Dude, what the hell?”

“It seems out  _ friend _ called for backup. There's at least fifteen guys out there. One’s trying to repair the keypad so they can get in, and he’s making pretty good time” 

Dick frowned.  _ Miss M should have warned us if she felt that many people converging on our location… _

* _ Hey Artie, Miss M, you guys good? _ * Dick asked over the mind link.

* _ Yeah, we just finished rounding up the guys you two K.O.ed, and are outside now. _ * Artemis responded. * _ Why? _ *

Dick frowned. 

* _ M’gann, did you check that you felt  _ _ everyone's _ _ mind in the compound? Because we have a bunch of enemies right outside our door.* _

* _ I don’t sense anyone else inside but you two.*  _ He could tell she was frowning, not quite able to see it, but hear it? The mindlink was weird, and difficult to explain.

_ *They could be robots?* _ Wally suggested. * _ I know they’re supposed to only be making bioweapons here, but it's not impossible for them to have branched out.* _

* _ That would explain why I can’t sense them, there's no real way to block my telepathy. _ ” M’gann said, relieved.

* _ Then why would they be dressed as League of Shadows members?* _ Dick asked. 

* _ League of Shadows members? Do you need backup?*  _ Aqualad cut in, concern in his voice. Thoughts? Whatever. 

_ *No, we’re probably fine. If they're not human I can just run us out of here and you can blow this place. _ * Wally said. 

_ *No offence M’gann, but how do we know they didn’t just block you somehow? _ * Artemis asked. 

* _ We can check on our way out _ .* Dick said, sitting at the desk and removing the flash drive. “ _ If they’re human we’ll call for backup. If not we’ll run, and you should be good to wreck the place. _ * 

* _ Alright, we’ll meet you at the bioship in twenty minutes. If you’re not out by then we’re coming in. _ * 

* _ See you then _ .* 

Dick stood from where he was sitting at the computer. Wally was leaning against the wall, staring at nothing. 

“KF, can you keep them off me while I try to get one guy’s mask off?” 

Wally didn’t respond, he just continued staring off into space. 

“KF?” Dick walked up and shook his shoulder slightly. Wally seemed to snap out of it. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” Dick noticed for the first time how pale the speedster was.  _ League of Shadows… I feel like there's something important I’m forgetting.  _

“Can you keep the others off me while I unmask one?”

“Yeah.” He said breathily. Robin’s eyebrows scrunched up in concern. 

The two moved up to either side of the door. Robin held up three fingers, counted down, and opened the door at zero. 

Wally immediately zipped into the hall, grabbing weapons as he went. Dick zeroed in on the guy working on the door. 

He swiped the assassin’s feet out from under him, hearing a distinct metallic clang as he hit the ground. He crouched down and pulled off the guy’s mask, revealing a steel face and a neck made of metal plates and exposed wires. 

Robin ripped out a handful wires from the droid’s neck. It twitched for a second before shutting down. 

_ Huh, good thing they’re nowhere near as skilled as actual League of shadows members. _ From the corner of his eye he could see an android creeping up on where Wally was fighting hand to hand with another. He threw a birdarang right into the robot’s neck, causing it to short out and collapse, surprising Wally.  _ Just as quiet, though. _

“KF! They’re ‘bots! Go for the exposed wires on their necks and you’ll easily take them down!”

Wally didn’t respond, but took his advice anyway, grabbing at the neck of the guy he was fighting and shutting him down. He then started moving back towards Dick at superspeed, taking down robots as he went. 

Kid Flash stopped in front of the other teen, breathing heavily. The fact that Wally shouldn't be anywhere  _ near  _ as exhausted as he seemed registered in the back of Dick’s mind, but he was too focused on getting out of the building to dwell on it. 

Dick got on Wally’s back, and the redhead sped off down the hall and out of the building. 

Wally made a sharp turn towards the bioship as they left the building, causing him to have a small coughing fit. 

“You good, KF?”

“Yeah,” he replied, breathy and exhausted. “I probably just inhaled some dirt or something."

Dick nodded slightly, not quite believing him. 

* _ We’re out of the building and en route to you all now. The guys who attacked us were robots so feel free to blow the place _ .* Dick said over the mindlink.

* _ Affirmative.* _

The building exploded in the distance as Wally ran up to the rest of the team.

“Took you guys long enough.” Artemis said.  _ Guess she's over tiptoeing around us after our fight.  _

“Sorry, we were attacked by a bunch of robot’s cosplaying as League of Shadows members.” Dick said, getting off Wally’s back. 

“It is rather concerning that they were here. This lab was meant to be creating biological weapons, which means either or intel was wrong and they’re working on robotics as well, or they were here guarding more important experiments.” Aqualad said, arms crossed, one hand on his chin.  “Either way, we do not have time to discuss this now. Let’s head back to the cave and deliver the data to Batman.”

Dick nodded, then took a few steps forward towards the ship. He noticed after a second that Wally wasn’t walking up with him. 

“You coming, Baywatch?” Artemis asked.

Dick turned to face the red-head, who was staring glassly off into space. 

“KF?” He asked again when the speedster didn’t respond. 

Wally shook himself, “Yeah-” he started walking toward them, but stopped when he started having another coughing fit, doubling over from the force of it. 

“You okay, man?” Dick walked over to him while the rest of the team looked on in concern. His eyes widened when he saw  _ blood  _ dripping from Wally’s mouth.  

“Dude!” he said as he grabbed the other boy’s uninjured arm, realizing that Wally was shaking, and that he was even more pale than before. 

Wally stopped coughing for a moment and took a few heaving breaths. 

“I think I’m going to pass out.” He said, before collapsing in Dick’s arms. 

“ _ Shit _ .” Dick said, kneeling under the older boy’s weight and propping Wally up against his chest as best he could. The rest of the team rushed up to help them. 

“Is he okay!?” M’gann asked, hovering ever them, hands clasped tightly together. 

Artemis bent down and pressed two fingers to Kid Flash’s neck. 

“His pulse feels  _ way _ too slow for a speedster.”

“Superboy, help me get a stretcher. Miss Martian prepare the bioship for takeoff. We need to get him back to the cave as quickly as possible.” Kaldur ordered.

The three of them ran back into the ship, the boys returning a moment later with a stretcher. Robin and Artemis lifted Kid Flash onto the stretcher, and then the five of them made their way back on the ship. 

Once they got inside they moved Wally to the small medbay M’gann had pulled up in the back of the ship. The ship started moving as soon as everyone was onboard. 

“Superboy, Artemis go sit down, its best not to crowd him.” Aqualad said. Neither of them looked like they really wanted to go, but they did anyway because they knew they couldn't really do anything.

Kaldur turned to Dick. 

“Do you know what may have caused this?”

He took a shaky breath.

“Yeah… those androids that attacked us, they were dressed as League of Shadows members, right? The actual League of Shadows used to poison their weapons, in case an assassination attempt fails and the victim survives, they’d die a few days later due to the poison.” He bit his lip. “They haven’t done it in over sixty years, so I didn’t consider it, but KF’s arm was grazed by one of the arrows, there must have been poison on these guys’ weapons.” 

Aqualad nodded grimly.

“In that case there is not much we can do. We don’t have the equipment needed to treat him here. We will have to wait until we return to the cave, they have the proper medical equipment there.” 

The two of them sat down at the seats M’gann had pulled up for them. Kaldur put a hand up to his ear, using his comm to inform Black Canary of the situation. 

The ship was almost entirely silent, the only sounds being M’gann’s quiet encouragement to get the ship to go faster and Wally’s labored breathing. It was unnerving, usually after missions they would be joking around, having fun, and acting as close to normal teens as they could. 

Wally would speed around the ship, ignoring M’gann’s warnings that he’d fall if he didn't stop, trying to bug Superboy and Artemis, before accidentally ramming into a wall when the ship would move. Artemis would laugh and Wally would pout and drape himself over Dick’s back, and complain that he wasn't sticking up for his best friend. Dick would laugh at him too, and complain about Wally’s weight, but he never tried to push the other boy off. Sometimes-

Superboy stood up on the other side of the ship, pulling Dick out of his thoughts.

“His heart stopped.” The clone said, tense with fear.

Dick sprung into action, jumping up on the table to start chest compressions.  _ No, no, no,  _ **_no_ ** _ , this  _ **_can't_ ** _ be happening. Wally  _ **_couldn't_ ** _ die.  _

“Miss Martian, how far from the cave are we?” Kaldur asked from where he was standing next to where Dick was trying to save Wally’s life. He looked like he wanted to help, but knew there wasn’t really anything he could while Dick was doing CPR.

“We’re still at least three minutes away.” She replied, her voice shaky.

Dick was already starting to feel exhausted, he was doing chest compressions as quickly as possible in attempts to be even  _ close _ to Wally’s normal heart rate, and it was taking a toll on him. But he  _ couldn’t _ stop. He couldn't let Wally die because of him.

When they finally,  _ finally _ , made it to the cave, Dick barely even noticed. He just kept doing chest compressions, trying desperately to keep up the  _ speed _ he needed, to keep Wally  _ alive _ one  _ second _ longer, when he was suddenly shoved off Wally.

And it was  _ sudden,  _ he hadn’t even noticed he had moved until he was sprawled out on the floor, looking up at the now empty bed where Wally had been. 

Dick instantly felt panic seize his chest, and took off for the zeta tubes. Obviously he  _ knew  _ that the Flash had taken him, and that it was a  _ good _ thing and Wally was getting help, but he couldn't help feeling like his world would shatter if he wasn't with Wally  _ right now _ . 

He could hear the footsteps of the other team members gaining on him, but he was nearing the cave entrance and zeroed in on the zeta controls, planning on hacking his way into the Watchtower. 

But before he could make it to them, he was stopped by one disheveled Black Canary. She blocked him by standing in front of the controls, and when he tried to duck around her she grabbed him by the arm in a vice grip, stopping him in his tracks. 

“ _ Let go of me _ .” Dick growled, flooded with a sudden anger at the team’s den mother. What right did she have to stop him from going up there? 

The rest of the team halted when they saw what was happening, Dick twisting in attempts to escape as the older hero tried to calm him.

“Look, I understand you guys are worried, but you can’t-” she was cut off by Dick giving a rather violent jerk, “You can’t just run up there. Not even mentioning the fact that none of you have clearance, we can’t chance that you’ll get in the medical team’s way.”

“We’re not idiots! Do you really think we’d be stupid enough to get in the way off them helping Wally?” Dick asked, still struggling.

“Black Canary, please, is there not some way we could get temporary clearance? Their must be some kind of waiting room by the medical area?” Kaldur asked, desperation tingeing his voice. 

“I’m sorry, but no. Batman’s orders are that the team waits here.” Dick deflated then. What was he supposed to do now? Fight his way into the watchtower only to be taken out by Batman like a child throwing a temper tantrum? He shook off Black Canary’s hand, the blond releaseing him with a concerned frown. 

“Is Wally going to be okay?” M’gann asked in a small voice, hunched over on her self.

“I don’t know.” Black Canary sighed, putting her hand on the martian’s shoulder. “But I’ll let you all know as soon as theres news.”

“ _ Whatever _ .” Artemis kicked over a stool, angrily huffing off to the training room. 

Conner seemed ready to explode from his own anger. M’gann looked like she wanted to go speak with him, but Kaldur beat her to it, touching the clone’s shoulder and leading him off with some quiet words.

M’gann just sort of wandered over to the couch, curling into a small ball and keeping her eyes trained on the zeta tubes.

Dick sat down on the other side of the couch from her, pulling up his holo-computer. If he couldn't be with Wally now, he could at least screw over the people who hurt him. 

-=+=-

Four hours after Wally was taken to the watchtower, Black Canary informed the team that the medical team was able to revive him, he was stable, and would make a full recovery. 

Wally had been infected with a poison that usually worked over a span of weeks, slowly shutting down vital organs and attacking the lungs to make it seem like some sort of illness killed the victim rather than foul play. Due to Wally’s increased metabolism the poison worked  _ much _ faster, but now that he was past the worst of it he just had to wait for it to finish working through his system and for his body to finish healing the damage.

The team was then sent to their respective homes, and the next day Wally’s fever broke and he was allowed family visitors. The day after that, the whole team was given temporary clearance to visit him.

That was two days ago. In the time since then Dick had taken out three other Lexcorp labs that had connections to the first where Wally had gotten hurt. The first couple days, before they’d been allowed to visit, Dick had hacked into Lexcorp’s servers and confirmed they were planning on using the robots to sneakily put hits out on politicians without them being traced back to the company, and stole maps of all the labs the robots were being tested.

He hadn't visited Wally yet, even though he’s had clearance for two days now, and could easily have snuck in before. Really, Bruce needed to update the security because Dick had already hacked into Wally’s medical files twice. 

After Dick knew Wally was okay, he couldn't bring himself to be near him. Wally had gotten poisoned protecting  _ him _ . He had  _ died _ protecting  _ him _ . 

Sure, he’d been revived, but he shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place. 

Dick had no right to visit him.

But even so… he wanted to.  _ Desperately _ . Even though logically he knew Wally was fine, he ached to see him for real. To see his chest moving up and down of its own volition, to hug him and feel his heartbeat against his own. To hear him  _ laugh _ . 

At first it was… well not  _ easy, _ but a hell of a lot easier than it was right now to stay away. He had something to focus on, and he could use the fact that he didn’t have clearance as an excuse not to go up (as if that would have stopped him under any other circumstances).

But now? Just sitting up in bed, the bad guys already put in jail, Wally was the only thing he could think of. 

Almost against his own will, he got out of bed and started putting on his Robin costume.

He knew the watchtower was synched to Gotham time, meaning visiting hours would already be over in the med bay, but that would probably be in his favor. He could just sneak in, check on Wally, and come home without anyone knowing he left. 

He made his way to the cave, and started hacking into the basic controls so he could get up without a mentor, get in without alerting anyone, and travel directly to the zeta closest to the med bay. 

Once set he took a deep breath, and stepped inside. 

The second Dick materialized on the Watchtower he took off towards the medbay. He knew his way around pretty well, having downloaded and memorized maps of it ages ago, but it was technically still his first time up here. 

It took him less than ten minutes to find and make his way to Wally’s room, dodging the few doctors a heroes milling around as he went. 

When he finally reached the door, he paused. It suddenly hit him how creepy this was. Breaking into his friend's room while he was sleeping? What the hell did he think he was doing?

He almost left, but something kept him rooted in place. He was so  _ close _ . Wally was just on the other side of the door.

He went inside. 

Wally was sleeping on his side, his back to the door. Dick gently closed it behind him, and took silent steps towards the bed. He would just check Wally, see he was fine with his own eyes, and then head back home. 

“Y’know breaking into people’s rooms while they sleep is pretty creepy.” Dick jumped at the voice. 

Wally gave a dry laugh and flipped around to face him, a small and tired smile on his face.

Dick felt a wave of relief so intense hit him he almost fell to his knees. Wally was  _ okay _ . But seconds later, that relief was joined by embarrassment and anxiety.

Wally had just caught him sneaking into his room in the middle of the (technically artificial) night. Dick felt his face heat up, a strong blush coloring his skin.

Wally was still staring at him, his expression playful, but Dick could see the nervousness it hid. 

“I-I wanted to check on you.”

“Oh.” Wally seemed taken aback, eyes wide and blinking owlishly. “I thought you were mad at me.” 

Dick’s eyebrows scrunched. “What? Why?”

Wally shifted uncomfortably, then sat up.

“Well, when the rest of the team came up you weren’t with them, and right before I got hurt I had been a huge dick so…” he trailed off, playing with the frayed edge of the blanket. “And I mean I can’t really blame you for being mad, I totally overreacted, and I kept being an ass way after the argument already ended, _ Iwasjustreallyfreakedoutwhenyoufiguredeverythingoutand _ -” his voice hurried into super speed gibberish, and Dick wasn’t able to understand anything after that. 

“Woah! Walls slow down I can't understand you.” Dick said, walking up to and sitting in a chair next to the bed. “I’m not mad at you.” 

“You’re not?” Wally asked, eyes wide. 

“No.” Dick exhaled and tilted his head back against the chair. “If anyone should be mad right now, its you.”

Wally looked confused

“Why?”

Dick closed his eyes, his head still tilted back.

“All this is because of me. You taking that stupid hit, getting poisoned,  _ dying _ . You literally fucking  _ died _ Walls, because of  _ me _ . Your  _ heart stopped _ .” His voice cracked, eyes burning. “It was so fucking terrifying. And all I could think of was that it was my fault. That I killed you.” He ran a hand across his eyes, then looked straight at the other boy. “How do you not hate me?” Dick asked, tears flowing down his face, no matter now quickly he tried to wipe them away. 

Wally took Dick’s hands in his own, looking down at them as he did, then tilting his head up to look his friend in the eyes as he talked. 

“Dude, look, I could  _ never _ hate you for something like that. Ignoring the fact that It was so  _ completely _ not your fault, and that you're my best friend and I love you, I made up my mind years ago that I’d do anything to protect the people I care about.” Dick stared at him with wide eyes as tears began to fill Wally’s own. “And when I say anything, I mean  _ anything _ , that includes dying. And you’re one of the people I care about, that I  _ love _ . That arrow, it was going straight towards your head. It would have killed you. I  _ couldn't _ let that happen. I’d do anything to protect you. If pushing you out of the way made that arrow go in my head instead, I still would have done it.” He smiled for a moment, then deflated, dropping Dick’s hands and averting his eyes, “Even… even if you wouldn't do the same. I made the decision to a long time ago, so respect that.”

He kept looking down to where his hands now sat on his own lap. 

Dick reached down and took them in his own, like Wally had to him only moments before. 

Wally’s eyes shot back to his, filled with both anxiety and hope. Dick smiled at him through his own tears. 

“You idiot, of course I'd do the same. This isn’t a one way street. We protect each other, okay?”

Wally grinned back at him, tears still in his eyes. 

“Okay.”

Wally grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a hug. It probably lasted too long, but neither of them cared. They were just happy to be together. 

Dick finally pulled away, laughing quietly as he wiped his eyes. 

“I was really worried about you. And I missed you a bunch.” His smile turned to a small frown. “I’m sorry it took me forever to get up here. And I promise I’m not mad. That fight was stupid anyway.”

“No it wasn't.” Wally sighed. “I was totally out of line. That thing you said about having like internalized shit was right.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And I took it out on you. Its just when you figured out I’m trans and-” 

Dick missed the rest of his sentence, hyper fixed on what Wally had just said. 

“What?!”

Wally jumped. 

“Dude, what the fuck?”

“You’re trans?!”

Wally blinked at him. 

“Yeah? That's why I was an ass? Because you figured it out and I panicked?”

”I didn’t figure anything out!”

Wally stared at him for a moment. 

“What?!”

“Holy shit.” Dick said, eyes wide as everything fell into place. 

Wally grabbed a pillow from behind his head and screamed into it.

“Okay.” He said, into the pillow. He sat up again. “Can you go lock and soundproof the door?"

Dick did that while Wally fixed his pillows. When he sad back down, Wally erupted into a fit of giggles.

“Dude how are you not  _ so mad  _ right now. Your cis straight friend gets pissed at you for supposedly thinking he’s gay? Jesus how did you not deck me?”

Dick let out a small laugh. 

“Guess I just love you alot.” He paused for a moment, then hesitantly asked, “So… you’re trans?”

Wally sobered a bit at the question, seemingly uncomfterble. 

“Yeah. And gay actually.”

“Oh.” Dick paused. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Wally closed his eyes and leaned back, sighing.

“Where I’m from… people aren’t really supportive of this kind of stuff. It's different in cities, like Gotham or Central, but Keystone is small. Everyone knows everyone, and I couldn't be out there. If I told anyone I was a guy, my parents would know within the hour, and they’re definitely not the biggest fans of queer people.”

Dick could see tears forming in Wally’s eyes again. He wanted to wipe them away, but took his hand instead. 

“When I became Kid Flash, Uncle B and Aunt I already knew I was a guy, and convinced my parents to let people think Kid Flash was a guy to protect my identity better or some bs. By the time I had met you, everyone had just assumed I was a cis guy. And I had basically such an ingrained fear of people knowing I’m trans, I just let them. I know It was stupid and irrational to be afraid, but I was. Still am.”

Dick bit his lip.

“Wally… you're safe right? You would tell anyone if you were in danger.”

He felt Wally’s hand tense in his for a second, but then the redhead was shooting a small smile his way. 

“Yeah dude, don’t worry.”

Dick tried his best to believe him, and smiled back. But he also made up his mind, if anyone tried to hurt Wally, he’d  _ ruin _ them. 

The two lapsed into silence for a few minutes, somehow perfectly between comfortable and awkward, before Dick broke it. 

“Wait a second, you don’t bind in costume right?! And you better not be binding right now because that poison attacked your lungs and that's a  _ bad  _ idea.”

Wally burst out laughing. 

“Sorry, just your timing dude.” He wheezed. “My costume has special padding that makes it so you can't tell without putting pressure on my chest, Uncle B straight up stole the idea from your costume by the way. And don’t worry I’m not binding now, even though I usually do in civilian clothes. I just happen to have a blessedly small chest. Plus this shirt is baggy.” Wally shrugged, a small smile on his face. 

“Okay, good.” Dick relaxed. 

Wally rubbed the back of his neck again.

“Hey dude… could you keep this under wraps for now? I think I’ll tell the team eventually, but I’m not ready yet.”

Dick put a hand to his chin, frowning while pretending to consider while Wally got increasingly nervous. 

“Fine, on one condition,” he grinned, “you let me take care of you the next time you’re on your period. You always help me, and it’s my turn to bury you in chocolate.”

Wally laughed. 

“You’re such a  _ dork _ .” He grinned at Dick. “Okay, I accept your conditions.”

Wally looked like he was about to say something else, but was cut off by a small coughing fit. 

“Okay, I think that’s my cue to go. You still need way more rest.”

Wally pouted from the bed. 

“Can’t you stay with me?”

Dick stalled where he was getting up, saying no to Wally was  _ really  _ hard.

“Dude, there's nowhere for me to sleep.”

Wally blushed slightly.

“I thought you could sleep in bed with me? I mean we used to do it sometimes when we were kids so I didn’t think it’d be weird… but if you don’t want to it’s fine. I get it.” He stared down at his hands, and said in a small voice, “I just don’t really like being alone up here. It’s hard to sleep.”

Wally kept looking down at the bed, trying to avoid eye contact with Dick. 

Dick sat back down and started taking off his boots and gloves. 

“Move over.” He said. 

Wally’s eyes snapped back up to him for a second, before scrambling to move over and clear a spot from any stray wires. 

Dick climbed in next to him. Wally gave him a quick one-armed hug and and almost silent “Thanks” before shutting off the light and laying down again on his back.

“ ‘Night, Dick.”

“Sweet dreams, Walls.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! i know that my writing isn't super good,, but im trying really hard to get better and i hope you liked it! (tbh if you have any tips or see any parts that really bothered you, tell me, bc im really trying hard to get better and im open to criticism, if its not super rude lol. also my summary for this is awful?? so if you have any better ideas for that i wouldn't mind,,, )


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